Spring 2021 Weather Review




Spring 2021 was a significant departure from other recent years in that it was drier than average. In fact, there were fewer measurable precipitation days during the season than any other spring since 1879. Snowfall was also well below normal aside from a rare late April event. Temperatures swung wildly, with highs generally well above normal and lows slightly below normal.

1991-2020 Spring Normals
Average High: 63.1
Average Low: 42.2
Mean: 52.7
Precipitation: 11.46″
Snowfall: 4.6″

2021 March-May
Average High: 65.2 9th Warmest
Average Low: 42.0 Tied for 29th Warmest
Mean: 53.6 +0.9 20th Warmest
Precipitation: 9.59″ 62nd Driest
Snowfall: 1.2″ Ties for 12th Least Snowiest
Average Daily Snow Depth: 0.0″
Largest Snowstorm: 1.2″ on April 21st
# of 32 or Below Highs: 0 Tied for 1st Fewest
# of 32 or Below Lows: 20 Tied for 12th Fewest
# of 80 or Above Highs: 14 Tied for 12th Most
# of 70 or Above Lows: 0 Tied for 1st Fewest
# of Measurable Precipitation Days: 27 1st Fewest on Record
# of Measurable Snowfall Days: 1 Tied for 2nd Fewest

Average High By Month
March 2021: 59.0 7th Warmest
April 2021: 64.4 Tied for 29th Warmest
May 2021: 72.1 Tied for 44th Coldest

Average Low By Month
March 2021: 34.7 27th Warmest
April 2021: 42.0 Tied for 35th Warmest
May 2021: 49.2 27th Coldest

Mean By Month
March 2021: 46.9 12th Warmest
April 2021: 53.2 Tied for 28th Warmest
May 2021: 60.6 Tied for 32nd Coldest

Precipitation By Month
March 2021: 2.85″ 54th Driest
April 2021: 3.28″ 60th Wettest
May 2021: 3.46″ 61st Driest

Snowfall By Month
March 2021: 0.0″ Tied for Least Snowy
April 2021: 1.2″ 14th Least Snowy
May 2021: 0.0″ Tied for Least Snowy- Only a handful of years have had a trace or more of snow in May.

Average Snow Depth By Month
March 2021: 0.0″
April 2021: 0.0″
May 2021: 0.0″



Maximum High By Month
March 2021: 75 on the 24th
April 2021: 83 on the 27th
May 2021: 91 on the 25th

Minimum High By Month
March 2021: 40 on the 15th
April 2021: 37 o the 1st
Mays 2021: 51 on the 9th

Maximum Low By Month
March 2021: 56 on the 11th
April 2021: 65 on the 28th
May 2021: 69 on the 24th

Maximum Low Records
-The 65 on April 28th tied the record for the date with 1914.

Minimum Low By Month
March 2021: 19 on the 5th
April 2021: 21 on the 2nd
May 2021: 34 on the 1st

Highest Daily Precipitation By Month
March 2021: 1.12″ on the 18th
April 2021: 1.88″ on the 29th
May 2021: 1.43″ on the 9th

Precipitation Records
-The 1.88″ on April 29th was a record for the date, beating the old record of 1.82″ set in 1996.
-The 1.43″ on May 9th was a record for the date, beating the old record of 1.12″ set in 1909.

Highest Daily Snowfall By Month
March 2021: 0.0″
April 2021: 1.2″ on the 21st
May 2021: 0.0″

Deepest Snow Depth By Month
March 2021: 0.0″
April 2021: 1″ on the 21st
May 2021: 0.0″

For more spring records and local weather information, visit the following links.
Spring Season Records
Wilmington National Weather Service



New Year’s Climatology



New Years weather has historically been surprisingly tranquil, with some exceptions. Highs are generally in the 30s or 40s and significant snowfalls have been rare. Check out these records for some of the holiday’s biggest extremes.

New Years Eve Normals
High: 37
Low: 24
Mean: 30
Precipitation: 0.09″
Snowfall: 0.2″

New Years Day Normals
High: 37
Low: 23
Mean: 30
Precipitation: 0.10″
Snowfall: 0.3″

Temperature Records

Top 10 Coldest New Years Eve Highs
1. 1880: 10
2. 1976: 13
3. 1899: 16
4. 1917, 1962: 17
5. 2017: 19
6. 1894, 1998: 23
7. 1881, 1963, 1983, 2001: 24
8. 1914, 19161, 1997: 25
9. 1939, 1946, 2014: 26
10. 1935: 27

Top 10 Coldest New Years Day Highs
1. 1928: 8
2. 1968: 10
3. 2018: 11
4. 1977: 12
5. 1900: 16
6. 1969: 17
7. 1898, 1918: 18
8. 1940: 19
9. 1999: 20
10. 1881: 21

Top 10 Coldest New Years Eve Lows
1. 1976: -5
2. 1880: -3
3. 1899, 1963: 1
4. 1961, 1962, 2017: 2
5. 1983: 3
6. 1935, 1939: 6
7. 1902, 1917: 7
8. 1878, 1927, 1968: 8
9. 1960, 1967: 10
10. 1914, 2000: 11

Top 10 Coldest New Years Day Lows
1. 1968: -6
2. 2018: -2
3. 1928: -1
4. 1881: 0
5. 1977: 1
6. 1945: 2
7. 1940: 3
8. 1898, 1918, 1963: 4
9. 1900, 1969: 5
10. 20001: 6

Top 10 Coldest New Years Eve Means
1. 1880: 3.5
2. 1976: 4
3. 1899: 8.5
4. 1962: 9.5
5. 2017: 10.5
6. 1917: 12
7. 1963: 12.5
8. 1961, 1983: 13.5
9. 1939: 16
10. 1935: 16.5

Top 10 Coldest New Years Day Means
1. 1968: 2
2. 1928: 3.5
3. 2018: 4.5
4. 1977: 6.5
5. 1881, 1900: 10.5
6. 1898, 1918, 1940, 1969: 11
7. 1963, 1999: 13.5
8. 1887: 15
9. 2001: 16
10. 1974: 16.5

Top 10 Warmest New Years Eve Highs
1. 1951: 68
2. 1965: 63
3. 2010: 62
4. 2006, 2018: 61
5. 1992: 60
6. 1884, 1978: 59
7. 1972: 58
8. 1923, 1936: 57
9. 1906, 1933, 2004: 54
10. 1896, 1984, 2002: 53

Top 10 Warmest New Years Day Highs
1. 1952: 67
2. 1985: 65
3. 1890: 62
4. 1897: 61
5. 1930: 60
6. 1916, 1921, 1979: 59
7. 2011, 2019: 58
8. 1955: 57
9. 1905, 1934, 1948: 56
10. 1892, 1919, 2012: 55

Top 10 Warmest New Years Eve Lows
1. 1965: 52
2. 2004: 50
3. 2006, 2010: 45
4. 1951: 44
5. 1918, 1978: 43
6. 1937, 1947, 2002: 41
7. 1896, 1933, 2011: 39
8. 1906, 1929, 1931, 1972: 37
9. 1995, 2018: 36
10. 1883, 1888, 1936, 1984, 2005: 35

Top 10 Warmest New Years Day Lows
1. 1930: 47
2. 2005: 46
3. 1892: 43
4. 1891: 42
5. 1916, 1921, 1950, 1966: 41
6. 1897, 1905, 1932, 2019: 39
7. 1941, 1942, 1952: 38
8. 1890, 1907, 1996, 2007: 36
9. 1948, 1959: 35
10. 1886, 1943, 1967, 1992, 1997: 34

Top 10 Warmest New Years Eve Means
1. 1965: 57.5
2. 1951: 56
3. 2010: 53.5
4. 2006: 53
5. 2004: 52
6. 1978: 51
7. 2018: 48.5
8. 1972: 47.5
9. 2002: 47
10. 1933, 1937, 1992: 46.5

Top 10 Warmest New Years Day Means
1. 1930: 53.5
2. 1952: 52.5
3. 1897, 1916, 1921: 50
4. 1890, 1892, 1985, 2005: 49
5. 2019: 48.5
6. 1891: 48
7. 1905, 1950: 47.5
8. 1966: 46.5
9. 1942: 46
10. 1948: 45.5

New Years Eve High Temperatures by Occurrence since 1878
0 or Below: 0
1-9: 0
10-19: 6
20-29: 18
30-39: 51
40-49: 43
50-59: 19
60 and Above: 6

New Years Day High Temperatures by Occurrence since 1878
0 or Below: 0
1-9: 1
10-19: 8
20-29: 20
30-39: 47
40-49: 40
50-59: 22
60 and Above: 5

New Years Eve Low Temperatures by Occurrence since 1878
0 or Below: 2
1-9: 13
10-19: 27
20-29: 48
30-39: 43
40-49: 8
50-59: 2
60 and Above: 0

New Years Day Low Temperatures by Occurrence since 1878
0 or Below: 4
1-9: 15
10-19: 26
20-29 51
30-39: 39
40-49: 8
50-59: 0
60 and Above: 0



Precipitation Records

Top 10 Wettest New Years Eves
1. 2018: 1.01″
2. 1887: 0.89″
3. 1886: 0.76″
4. 1879: 0.74″
5. 1944: 0.71″
6. 1978: 0.67″
7. 1927: 0.49″
8. 1974: 0.47″
9. 1897, 1989, 2006: 0.46″
10. 1965: 0.41″

Top 10 Wettest New Years Days
1. 1948: 1.28″
2. 2021: 1.04″
3. 1916: 1.02″
4. 1979: 0.89″
5. 1919: 0.71″
6. 1959: 0.62″
7. 1893: 0.60″
8. 2003: 0.54″
9. 1964: 0.50″
10. 1965: 0.48″

New Years Eve Precipitation by Amount Occurrence since 1878
None: 43
Trace: 34
0.01-0.24: 46
0.25-0.49: 14
0.50-0.99: 5
1.00 or More: 1

New Years Day Precipitation by Amount Occurrence since 1878
None: 49
Trace: 34
0.01-0.24: 37
0.25-0.49: 14
0.50-0.99: 6
1.00 or More: 3

Top 10 Snowiest New Years Eves
1. 1897: 3.6″
2. 1892: 3.0″
3. 1960: 2.6″
4. 1967: 2.4″
5. 2009: 2.1″
6. 1980: 2.0″
7. 1973: 1.9″
8. 1998, 2012: 1.7″
9. 1887: 1.6″
10. 1961: 0.9″

Top 10 Snowiest New Years Days
1. 1964: 5.2″
2. 1883: 3.9″
3. 1887: 2.5″
4. 1970: 2.2″
5. 1884: 1.8″
6. 1945: 1.7″
7. 1961: 1.6″
8. 1928: 1.3″
9. 1918: 1.2″
10. 1981: 1.1″

Top 10 Snowiest New Years Holidays (Both December 31st and January 1st Combined)
1. 1963-1964: 5.2″
2. 1960-1961: 4.2″
3. 1892-1893: 4.0″
4. 1882-1883: 3.9″
5. 1897-1898: 3.6″
6. 1980-1981: 3.1″
7. 2009-2010: 2.7″
8. 1969-1970: 2.6″
9. 1886-1887: 2.5″
10. 1967-1968: 2.4″

New Years Eve Snowfall by Amount Occurrence since 1878
None: 89
Trace: 27
0.1-0.4: 13
0.5-0.9: 4
1.0-2.4: 7
2.5-4.9: 3
5.0 or More: 0

New Years Day Snowfall by Amount Occurrence since 1878
None: 86
Trace: 28
0.1-0.4: 12
0.5-0.9: 4
1.0-2.4: 10
2.5-4.9: 2
5.0 or More: 1

Top 5 Deepest New Years Eve Snow Depths since 1940
1. 2012: 7″
2. 1973, 2000: 4″
3. 1960, 1976, 2017: 3″
4. 1961, 1995, 1997, 2009: 2″
5. 1967, 1969, 1993, 1998, 2020: 1″

Top 5 Deepest New Years Day Snow Depths since 1940
1. 2013: 9″
2. 1961: 6″
3. 2001: 4″
4. 1974, 1977: 3″
5. 1940, 1945, 1962, 1968, 1981, 2018: 2″

For more local weather records, visit:
Weather History
And for current local weather and forecasts, visit:
Wilmington National Weather Service